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Brief Description:

A Common Treatment for Chronic Prostatitis Fails to Reduce Symptoms in Diagnosed Men.

Transcript:

Akinso: A common treatment for chronic prostatitis fails to reduce symptoms in diagnosed men.

Nyberg: Afluzosin is a drug frequently prescribed to men.

Akinso: Dr. Leroy Nyberg is the Director of the Urology Programs at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Nyberg: It works by relaxing the muscles in the prostate so the urine can flow easier.

Akinso: A NIDDK study showed that alfuzosin failed to significantly reduce symptoms in recently diagnosed men who had not been previously treated with the drug.

Nyberg: It was a study designed to see if men who had not been treated with prostatitis for less than two years. It’s not long standing prostatitis but it’s relatively recently diagnosed prostatitis. If treated with alfuzosin had a better response rate, meaning relief of symptoms, than men that were treated with a placebo or an inactive pill.

Akinso: Dr. Nyberg says a total of 272 men diagnosed with chronic prostatitis were randomly assigned to take either alfuzosin or an identical-looking placebo.

Nyberg: When they were treated for 12 weeks and when the results were evaluated it was shown that the men with the sugar pill or placebo, there was no difference between the men treated with alfuzosin and the placebo or sugar pills.

Akinso: Chronic prostatitis is a painful disorder of the prostate and surrounding pelvic area. Men with this condition experience pain in the genital and urinary tract symptoms such as pain in the bladder and during urination. For more information on chronic prostatitis, visit www.kidney.niddk.nih.gov. This is Wally Akinso at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.